Page 198 of The Dark Mirror

‘You went after Fitzours,’ I said to Eliza. ‘Where did he go?’

‘We lost him,’ she answered. ‘A bunch of Rephs got him away. They were too quick for us.’

Pleione went ahead once more, following the lamentation to the final grave. Once we had broken out of the building, we crossed the Tiber. Some of the angels’ wings had been chipped, caught by shrapnel or bullets. When Pleione was tuned into the spirits’ voices, her eyes brightened. She led us on with confidence, heading towards the Forum.

Arcturus had fallen to the back of the group again. When I turned, I saw him leaning on a balustrade, Terebell beside him. I rushed back to them.

‘Nick,’ I called, ‘we need a car.’

‘I’m on it.’

I reached Arcturus and looked into the eyeholes of his mask. ‘Can you keep going?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I will be able to … seal the last cold spots, if they have appeared in the Colosseum.’

‘Take my aura.’

He didn’t put up a fight. Terebell watched as our auras twined, turning his eyes red again.

‘You cannot sustain this for much longer,’ she told him. ‘Any more alysoplasm will turn you.’

‘There’s just one grave left. We can stop this,’ I said. ‘Scion wasn’t expecting the Italians to know what hit them.’ Nick got a truck going and beckoned us. ‘We’ll follow you again. Arcturus, you come with us.’

We climbed into the truck. Nick locked the doors and followed the Ranthen off the bridge.

‘The others must have dealt with the Rephs under the Trevi Fountain,’ he said. ‘That’s why Pleione stopped hearing the song, right?’

‘Let’s hope so,’ I said.

‘Is this what you’ve all been doing since you abandoned London, my company of intrepid heroes?’ Jaxon asked, his tone almost pleasant. ‘Putting your lives on the line to defend the amaurotics? Trying to save the world from Scion, all for hidebound fools like Cardinal Rocha?’

‘Put a sock in it, Jax,’ I growled.

Eliza had a hand pressed over her arm. It wasn’t bleeding much, but she looked ill.

The Colosseum had stood for nearly two millennia. The ruin was thronged with old and new spirits, still drawn to a place of death. It was close to the Forum – close enough that you could almost throw a stone between them. If we defended it, we defendedthe Council of Kassandra. As much as I resented their meddling, I didn’t want the Forum to fall.

I focused on the æther. Suddenly I could sense Cade, a lighthouse among the other dreamscapes.

He was right ahead of us, exactly where I had known he would be, waiting for his vision to come to pass. If the ruthless bastard wanted a fight, I was more than happy to give him one. It ended here.

As Nick drove after Pleione, a shadow fell across the street in front of us. He braked when two massive crates hit the ground, parachutes deflating around them.

‘A supply drop.’ Mistry got out. ‘Beatrice has sent help.’

We ran to the armoured crates. Inside was almost everything we could possibly need, including medical supplies, sacks of gritting salt, several rifles, and a submachine gun. I helped myself to a couple of hand grenades, while Pleione and Errai took charge of the salt.

‘Paige!’

Maria came towards us with Verca and the rest of the Ranthen. The Rephs were streaked with ectoplasm, Lesath bleeding from his chest. From his blue eyes, Maria had dealt with it.

‘Verca was right.’ She grasped my shoulder. ‘We found the Rephs under the Trevi Fountain.’

‘Well done, Verca,’ I said. ‘Are they sequestered?’

‘Yes.’ Lesath had the blade. ‘All of them were Ranthen.’

The Buzzers were moving south. Abandoning the truck, we followed their trail of destruction. Lesath slowed to help Arcturus. I hung back to cover them, letting Pleione lead the others.

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